​Twelfth in a series of biographical sketches on Burgesses whose descendants belong to the First Mississippi Company; in honor of the 400th anniversary of the July 30, 1619, meeting of the first representative governmental body in America at the 1617 Church on Jamestown Island​

David Crawford was born circa 1625 in Scotland, emigrating to the Virginia Colony with his father, John Crawford, around 1643. His father was later killed in Bacon's Rebellion of 1676.

Crawford received a land grant in the Parish of Martin’s Hundred, James City County, as early as 7 Aug 1667. He later settled in that part of St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent, which ultimately became St. Paul’s Parish, Hanover County; here he patented land in 1672, naming his plantation Assasquin. On 23 Jan 1687, Crawford was elected to the vestry of St. Peter’s Parish, an office he held until the division of the parish in 1704, after which he served as a member of the vestry of the new St. Paul’s Parish. He served as one of the two church wardens of St. Peter’s from 1698 to 1700.

During the first session of the Assembly of 1691-1692, an Act was passed creating King and Queen County from New Kent, and Burgesses from both counties were elected for the second session this this assembly. Crawford was one of the two Burgesses elected for New Kent and took his seat in the House of Burgesses on 01 Apr 1692. He was instrumental in enacting legislation requiring Clerks of County Courts to maintain offices in their respective Court Houses.

An act in Henning’s Statutes-at-Large shows David Crawford deeding the Assasquin estate of four hundred acres to his grandson William Meriwether. He granted 200 acres in St. Paul’s Parish to another grandson, David Meriwether, in 1697. He amassed many acres of land and operated a large plantation that eventually became part of the site of Richmond, Virginia, in the 17th Century.

The name of David Crawford’s wife is unknown; however, he married and had several children: Elizabeth who married Nicholas Meriwether, a daughter who married a Lewis, Angelina who married a McGuire, John, and Sarah. As an elderly man, he was allegedly killed by the Pamunkey Indians about 1710 in New Kent County, Virginia.

Note: An excavation of the site of David Crawford's fortified home began In 2010.

First Mississippi Company Descendants of David Crawford: Kenneth Holt Oilschlager

Very interesting and helpful to have this history in condensed form. Really enjoy the blog.

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Frances Johnson

6/29/2019 07:51:58 am

Didn't David also have a son named David who married Elizabeth Smith in Jamestown in Nov. 1695?

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Christopher Carter Lee

4/6/2020 03:53:29 pm

Yes, he did, although son David's wife Elizabeth has never been proved to have been Elizabeth Smith.
About half of the Burgess David Crawford's best known descendants trace to him through the son David (the other rough half through daughter Elizabeth Meriwether). The son David's progeny include U.S. Secretary of War, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, and President candidate William Harris Crawford (1772-1834), U.S. Secretary of War George Walker Crawford (1798-1872), early Nashvillian and Andrew Jackson mentor Maj. William Terrell Lewis (1757-1838), whose daughters were wives of U.S. Secretary of War William Henry Eaton and Governor William C. C. Claiborne, and there are other notables still.
I touched on the younger David's home and family in a blog piece written years ago here: vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2015/09/family-history-for-sale/

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Donna Simpson

1/12/2020 06:12:58 pm

I just learned Colonel David I Crawford, is the father of Sarah Crawford born: 1666 Death: 1752, who is my 9th Great Grandmother, that would make him my 10th direct ancestor/generations. All this information is wonderful now i know my family has been here for a very long time which helped build the United States into what it has become today although it needs a lot of work/repairs done compared to what these family members went through. Wished I knew more about their Scottish back ground. Thank you so much for sharing.

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Trisha Stricker

4/25/2020 10:25:25 am

Did the excavation ever happen? I can't find any information on what they were able to locate.

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